CSUN Set to Face Boise State, North Dakota State This Week

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-4) opens up a busy week on Tuesday with a match-up against Boise State at The Matadome at 7 p.m. before heading to North Dakota State on Friday at 5 p.m. (PST). Both games will stream on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call for both games at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

The Matadors seek their first win over Boise State in team history on Tuesday. The Broncos have won all eight meetings with six of those games taking place in Boise. CSUN dropped the last meeting between the two programs on Dec. 28, 2019, by a 103-72 final despite 28 points from Lamine Diane. The Matadors have hosted the Broncos just twice in team history, first in 1991 and again in 2006.

North Dakota State defeated CSUN 71-62 on Dec. 11, 2019, in the teams' first-ever meeting in men's basketball. The Bison led by a point with nine minutes to play before pulling away down the stretch for the victory in that game. Terrell Gomez and Darius Brown II led the way with 16 points apiece for the Matadors.

CSUN saw its three-game winning streak come to an end last Saturday at Fresno State as the Bulldogs prevailed 61-43. The Matadors shot under 30 percent in the first half and would dig a double-digit hole in the early going. The Bulldogs led by as many as 25 points before a furious CSUN rally cut the lead to 10 with less than seven minutes to play. However, the short-handed Matadors, who played without Atin Wright and Fidelis Okereke, could not slow down the Bulldogs in the closing minutes.

Elijah Hardy scored a team-high 12 points off the bench against Fresno State while adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Onyi Eyisi added 11 points and Darius Beane scored a season-high 10 points in his first start of the year. Christian Gray made his return to Fresno State after playing the past three seasons with the program and contributed a career-high 12 rebounds.

Wright, who missed his first game of the season on Saturday, leads the Matadors in scoring heading into the week at 10.2 points per game. Hardy is second on the team in scoring with 9.4 points while he ranks fifth in the Big West Conference in steals per game (1.4) and ninth in assists per game (2.7). Gray is ninth in the Big West in rebounding at 6.9 to go with 6.0 points per game. Eyisi is averaging 9.0 points on 57.1 percent shooting in 19.7 minutes per game. As a team, the Matadors are limiting the opposition to 67.4 points per game.

Brown, who played in six minutes at Fresno State, moved into a ninth-place tie with Jeff Parris (1997-01) on the Matadors' career games started list. The 6-2 guard is now three starts away from catching both Rob Haynes (2005-09) and Terrell Gomez (2017-20) for seventh place on the list. In addition, Brown is third in team history in career assists (431) and tied for ninth place in career steals (134).

A Closer Look at Boise State
The Broncos (4-4) snapped a two-game skid with a win over Tulsa, 63-58, last Friday. Boise State has gone 0-2 against Big West teams this season, losing to UC Irvine (58-50) on Nov. 13 and CSU Bakersfield (46-39) on Nov. 26. Last season, Boise State went 19-9 and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals. The Broncos were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Conference by members of the media. Head coach Leon Rice is in his 12th season leading the program.

Abu Kigab is averaging a team-high 13.3 points to go with 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals. Emmanuel Akot (12.0 PPG) and Marcus Shaver Jr. (11.1 PPG) are also scoring in double figures for the Broncos. Mladen Armus is leading the team in rebounds per game (8.1) while he averages 6.9 points. As a team, Boise State is limiting opponents to 60.4 points per game.

A Closer Look at North Dakota State
The Bison improved to 5-3 overall on the season with a 114-51 win over Northland College last Thursday. North Dakota State has posted a perfect 4-0 record at home, which includes a win over Cal Poly (60-57) on Nov. 13. In 2020-21, the Bison finished 15-12 and advanced to the title game of the Summit League Tournament while the team won the conference tournament two seasons ago. The team was picked to finish second in the Summit League this year. Head coach David Richman is in his eighth season at the helm.

The team's top scorer Rocky Kreuser (14.8 PPG) was named to the Lou Hensen National Player of the Year watch list and the Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Krueser also leads the team in rebounds per game (8.0). Grant Nelson is second on the team in scoring at 11.3 points while he is posting 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. As a team, the Bison average 71.0 points and 39.0 rebounds.

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CSUN Set to Face Boise State, North Dakota State This Week

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Players Mentioned

Darius Beane

Darius Brown II

Onyi Eyisi

Christian Gray

Elijah Hardy

Fidelis Okereke

Atin Wright